West Bank on verge of unprecedented chaos: Palestinian leaders

Palestinian leaders have warned the West Bank is on the verge of unprecedented chaos after a string of violent protests and kidnappings over the weekend in the north of the territory.

Prime minister Ahmed Qurie called for a show of national unity to prevent the same kind of chaos seen last month in the Gaza Strip from spreading to the West Bank, where most Palestinians live.

"We, the Palestinian people, must stand united in condemning this chaos in the same manner that we deterred the chaos that took place in Gaza," he said in an interview published in Sunday's Al-Quds Daily.

"If this chaos reaches the West Bank, then we will be on the verge of an unprecedented and unacceptable disaster."

Disaffected militants from the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, who are traditionally loyal to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, torched the offices of the governor and local headquarters of the security services in the northern town of Jenin over the weekend.

Three foreigners were also briefly held hostage on Friday night in the nearby city of Nablus.

And on Sunday morning, gunmen from al-Awda, another armed faction loyal to Arafat, fired into the air as a show of strength outside a meeting of the Palestinian leader's Fatah movement in Nablus.

Negotiations minister Saeb Erakat said the unrest was undermining the national cause.

"We completely reject this kind of chaos in Jenin or in any place," he told AFP.

"We need to maintain and protect our national unity and we need to work out solutions to all problems through national dialogue involving everybody under the rule of law.

"This problem will cause major damage to our national interest. The burning of the headquarters and kidnapping of the foreigners is very bad and against our interests. We need rule of law for all Palestinians."

The latest bout of kidnappings and protests echoes similar unrest in Gaza last month which prompted Mr Qurie to submit his resignation to Mr Arafat before later agreeing to stay in his post.

However minister without portfolio Qadurra Fares said the Al-Aqsa Brigades' protests reflected disaffection with their treatment by the Palestinian Authority rather than a more widespread unravelling of law and order.

"What happened in Jenin has nothing to do with the incidents in Gaza. It has to do with the way Al-Aqsa has been treated, has been neglected," he told AFP.

"Despite numerous promises to attend to their situation, nothing has been done. I believe that what happened reflects anger at their situation."

Al-Aqsa has demanded widescale reforms to the Palestinian Authority and accused officials of endemic corruption.

Many activists who used to be on the Fatah payroll have also had their funding cut or reduced.